In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

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Probably one of the most innovative sharing economy models to come along, FlightCar was started by three college dropouts: Kevin Petrovic, Shri Ganeshram and Rujul Zaparde (actually Petrovic and Zaparde didn’t even make it to orientation). It’s the quintessential proof that sometimes ingenuity, drive and moxie can carry you almost as far as a degree. Their idea was to offer the harried airline passenger a way to avoid parking their car at the airport, where fees mount up and become an added overhead to vacations and business trips.

“FlightCar lets people parking at the airport rent their vehicles out to other travelers,” says the company website. To ensure that there are no liability hassles, every car is insured with a $1 million policy. The renter pays a nominal cost for the use, and the owner gets a free car-cleaning and 20 cents per mile. In a metropolis like San Francisco, that change can add up.

Their idea was so popular that it garnered $5.5 million in venture capital and a roll-out at SFO, which is owned by the city. As the trio quickly found out, not everyone is fond of the sharing economy concept.

Parking fees are a big issue to airports, particularly those the size of SFO, which has steep overhead to contend with and relies on those fees for revenue. From the city’s point of view, FlightCar wasn’t paying for taxes and other fees that are normally paid by car rental agencies. From FlightCar’s vantage point, they don’t maintain a location at the airport; in fact, since the business operates out of Millbrae (just outside the airport boundary), the owners argue, they aren’t even based in the city of San Francisco. Therefore, they shouldn’t have to pay fees and taxes that regular car-rental agencies pay the city.

But that’s not the only problem that the company has faced with its neighbors lately. On Nov. 4, the Millbrae Planning Commission voted to pull FlightCar’s conditional use permit. The city listed a number of non-compliance issues, all of which FlightCar insists have already been addressed or had nothing to do with its conditional use permit. Two weeks later, the company launched a lawsuit, stating that Millbrae “thoroughly and capriciously prejudice[d] the rights of the plaintiff by denying it the ability to operate its business.”

Local San Mateo County resident Doug Radtke noted in his blog post on the day the lawsuit was launched that there may have been other options available to the city council before trying to “kick out a business because folks on the planning commission think it’s a ‘failed experiment’; there are rules, laws and procedures.” He questioned “why there was no formal abatement process” such as disciplinary or corrective action taken if the city felt the business wasn’t complying with regulations that would have lessened the chance of being slapped with a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the showdown between FlightCar and San Francisco has only just begun. The city and FlightCar went to court last week, but there’s been no official word of the outcome. While San Francisco has some hefty arguments on its side, it may be hard to shake the public image of robbing hard-working, well-intentioned teens that were sharp enough to see a better way of doing things.

“We’re not asking for the keys to the kingdom without doing the hard work to get there,” said co-founder Rujul Zaparde in a Nov. 23 blog post. “We are asking for a clearly defined set of rules that that aren’t designed to favor incumbents — and allow us to rise to the occasion to satisfy a new customer base with rising expectations.”

This piece has been updated since it was published to correct the following errors: only Ganeshram attended MIT, FlightCar raised $5.5 million not 3.5 million, and the company has never operated at Oakland International Airport.

Jan Lee is a former news editor and award-winning editorial writer whose non-fiction and fiction have been published in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and Australia. Her articles and posts can be found on TriplePundit, JustMeans, and her blog, The Multicultural Jew, as well as other publications. She currently splits her residence between the city of Vancouver, British Columbia and the rural farmlands of Idaho.

3 responses

This is a fascinating one. There are plenty of rental-car companies who operate off-airport sites and don’t pay fees to the airport as a result. I do believe, however, that those companies *do* pay fees for the right to run a shuttle bus to the airport.

By sending limos to the airport, perhaps flight car is getting around the shuttle bus fee? It’s all a bit nitpicky but why wouldn’t flightcar limos pay the same fees as any other limo?

Also – the Milbrae thing is interesting too. It seems (according to the link in the story) that 3 cars have been stolen from the lot since the business began and it’s the main impetus for Milbrae to crack down, claiming the company is inviting crime. It’s a fair point, though I would think the company and the city of Milbrae could come to some kind of agreement without rash legal action.

Great points, Nick. Yes, it’ll be interesting to see how this turns out. If SF should win, will other airports then follow suit? (FlightCar is also in Boston and LA) And will this actually clarify laws, as its owners are calling for?

The point on the thefts is good as well, although the fine details have yet to be sorted out from the he-says-she-says info. Clearly this is breaking new ground in many ways, and young entrepreneurs involved in a bustling venture like this may have lessons to learn as we all would. I’ll be interested to see how the Millbrae issue shakes out, but as their address is still in Millbrae, it sounds like some dialogue is still going on.

This is Doug Radtke himself. Thank you for the shout out – it seems like I was one of the few to blog about this and speak out in person at city council. I have no agenda other than I wanted Millbrae to have a friendly view of startups, the sharing economy, and revitalizing out business climate. I’m afraid the actions taken by the city do not demonstrate a willingness to problem solve. FlightCar has subsequently moved to South San Francisco – and will be taking advantage of any future growth FlightCar brings. It’s disappointing really. The founders of FlightCar who my friend Ryan met in person expressed a desire to work things out with the city – but it seemed as if there was no desire to work things out. The decision was made before they even had a chance to plead their case.